Sports

Ronaldo watches as Spain advances

ONE MORE WIN: Spain players celebrate after advancing to the Euro 2012 final yesterday. Spain defeated Portugal 4-2 in penalty kicks after both teams went scoreless for 120 minutes. (AP)

ONE MORE WIN: Spain players celebrate after advancing to the Euro 2012 final yesterday. Spain defeated Portugal 4-2 in penalty kicks after both teams went scoreless for 120 minutes. (AP)

DONETSK, Ukraine — Still not pretty to watch, still just as effective.

Spain failed to dazzle yet again at the European Championship, but still advanced to its third straight major championship final by beating Portugal 4-2 in a penalty shootout yesterday following a 0-0 draw after extra time.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo watched helplessly as the penalty shootout drama passed him by.

The Portugal captain, and star attraction at the European Championship, stood slightly apart from his teammates as they watched Spain advance to the final.

Ronaldo never even got to take his kick.

Ronaldo was fifth in line to step up to the spot — a strategy rendered worthless when the Spanish, who kicked first, sent their fifth man Cesc Fabregas to seal victory.

However, Portugal coach Paulo Bento said “I don’t regret anything” about the order of penalty takers.

“We had defined before what would be the best conditions to succeed,” Bento said.

After earning plaudits for the eye-catching, one-touch passing that helped Spain win titles at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, this year’s team is struggling to create chances. Against Portugal, the defending champions managed only one shot on target in regulation time.

It didn’t matter, though, because the Spanish still came through when it mattered. Cesc Fabregas, who came on as a substitute in the second half of regulation time, scored the deciding penalty after Bruno Alves hit the crossbar for Portugal moments earlier.

“I played poorly, but the team worked really hard,” Fabregas said. “I had this intuition that we could advance if we went to penalties and that’s what we did.”

Spain next faces either Germany or Italy on Sunday in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.

Ronaldo had several chances for Portugal, but he sent three shots well over the bar.

After an often dour opening 90 minutes in which the Spanish failed to impress, the match livened up in the 30 minutes of extra time. Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta forced Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio into a superb reflex save in the 103rd minute. Iniesta ghosted into the penalty area, then held his head in disbelief as Rui Patricio reacted brilliantly to get a strong hand to his shot after Jordi Alba cut the ball back toward the penalty spot.

“Both teams were stronger in defense in the first 90 minutes, but that balance was broken in extra time,” Spain manager Vicente del Bosque said.

In the shootout, Xabi had the first attempt saved by Rui Patricio. But Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas then saved Joao Moutinho’s shot. Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos then all scored for Spain, while Pepe and Nani scored for Portugal.

Rui Patricio was a big help in goal for Portugal, but much more was expected from Ronaldo. The winger had a chance, albeit a difficult one, to win the game in the 90th minute when Portugal poured forward after clearing a free kick. But Raul Meireles’ pass was fractionally behind Ronaldo and, with momentum lost, he had to check his run and sent his shot high and wide.

“Everyone helped to control Ronaldo,” del Bosque said.